America's Guantanamo

I really, really want to tell you about the Rijksmuseum’s website, which has to be the most totally cool museum website around. Where else can you get a tab for “immoral women” and then see a collection of scandalous ladies—all right, women—from eight centuries of Western Art? Oh, and you can download these immoral women—quite a feat—and the resolution is high quality. No more blurry images. And best of all, the good Dutch have decided to give all away for free. So that means that if you want a tattoo of the night watchmen on your chest—and I’m very much considering it—you can go right ahead.

I also really, really want to tell about Amanda Palmer, who is following a parallel track with the Rijksmuseum. She has a band—a mixture of cabaret and something-or-other-else—and she has decided to give her music away for free. It seems her CD with a major label sold “only” 25,000 copies and that wasn’t good enough. So she cut loose from the label, and gave her music away. Why? Well, a fan approached her after the show, gave her ten bucks, and told her sheepishly that he had burned a copy of her CD from a friend’s CD. And he felt bad. So then Amanda decided to give her music away, but ask for donations. And guess what? It’s working!

In addition, I really, really want to tell you about a seriously unlucky or untalented guy working on ripping up the street in front of my apartment. What he is supposed to be doing is making six inch holes in the pavement. What he has just done is perforated a water main—for the second time in three days. Yes, last Friday there was a geyser of water spewing ten feet upward in the air; Puerto Ricans were merrily saluting him, tourists were snapping photos. Today, more ingeniously, he has covered the geyser with a plywood plank, and is using the jackhammer contraption on his tractor to hold it down.

As interesting as all this is—and you should definitely check out the Rijksmuseum website—I cannot, as a responsible blogger, neglect my duties. So here it is—a pop quiz of only one question….

1.     The country that has held a political prisoner for the longest period of time is

a.     China

b.     Nigeria

c.     Cuba

d.     The United States of America

And the answer is…

The USA. Yes, our country—OK, my country—jailed Oscar López Rivera, a Puerto Rican Vietnam veteran, 32 years ago for something called seditious conspiracy. And today, 54 minutes ago, the mayoress of San Juan got into a replica of the cell in which López Rivera currently resides. In this, she is joined by several other mayors, writers, entertainers, and noteworthy folk.

So what did López Rivera do to warrant 32 years in the can? After all, the average murder sentence is a bit over 10 years—so was he a multiple killer?

No. His crime was to be associated with FALN—the Puerto Rican nationalist group which yes, did over 100 bombings. However, López Rivera never was charged with any bombings, but was instead brought in on seditious conspiracy, armed robbery, and moving stolen vehicles across state lines.

He wasn’t alone—there were at least 14 Puerto Rican political prisoners who had received, in one case, 90 years in jail. That prompted Bill Clinton, in 1999, to offer commutation with parole to all of them. Twelve said yes, López Rivera and another said no. López Rivera’s sister explained that he felt that exchanging prison for parole was simply to move the prison outside.

OK—you can argue: he had his chance, he didn’t take Clinton’s offer, why feel sorry for him?

You can also say that it is totally unreasonable—no, let’s not mince words. It is outrageous and a heinous violation of human rights to be holding this guy in jail for 32 years for nothing more than armed robbery, moving stolen vehicles and—essentially—bad think.

Oh, and the sentence—how long will it last? Well, his next parole review will be in January of 2026, at which point López Rivera will be 83—not an age routinely associated with violent behavior.

Nor is it only the length of time that López Rivera has served—it’s also the fact that for twelve years of that time, he was in total isolation. The prison has also refused to let him speak to the press since 1999, and they have refused as well to allow him to attend the funerals of his father, mother, and sister. They even refused to let him purchase more telephone time so that he could be in contact with his family during the illnesses preceding these deaths.

Everything on this island is political. But today, members of all three parties are getting into cages built on town squares in protest against this outrageous jailing.

Well, you may be wondering, how long is his sentence? 70 years.

He’ll be 107 years old.